Preface: this happened back in January but the wrx has been sitting since then with no real reason to move. Not I’m itching to drive it again. I’m driving on 94 one night and the car starts overheating and smoking from the engine bay, through the hood scoop mostly. I pull off and drive back home (10ish minutes). Once home, I pop the hood and find coolant all over the engine bay. Most of it seems to be on the top side, though it was ~20° so I didn’t spend too much time checking underneath. Not a ton found underneath though. I haven’t driven it since then but did recently check to see if there’s any coolant still in the overflow and there looks to be a little bit left. On Monday, I rinsed off the engine bay and underneath the car to start with a clean slate. Checked coolant levels again and nothing’s changed. What treats am I in for? I just picked up a pressure tester and am planning to do some digging this weekend. Really hoping for it just to be the radiator cap having gone bad on a 21 year old car with 236k.
Could it have been the thermostat sticking? Was the cap still on when you opened the hood back in January? in the pic it looks to be that the failure came from around the overflow tank/cap?
That’s what I thought as well, especially since there’s a big ole puddle on top. Further inspection leads to the radiator turning into a sprinkler.
Hard to see since it’s a screenshot from a video, but it’s bubbling where the plastic tank meets the metal core
Funny, those are the two brands I've been looking at. Any familiarity with the two? Looks like Koyo is technically more expensive but always "on sale" for less than the Mishimoto.
They are both pretty good! I think that either would be a good choice. I personally like Koyo. But I know tons of people that have been happy with the Mishimoto So, in short, go for the best price!
